Day 65 – Grayson’s Condition

Dear family and friends

Today was another in a continuing series of good days!

Food is good!! No more tube feeding for Grayson – he is eating! "Eating" is a relative term, but it is solid and it is getting into his stomach through his mouth without the shortcut of the tube, and without bypassing his taste buds! The food is all pureed, but as long as he eats half of his tray at each meal, he is done with the tube. So far, it hasn't been much of a challenge, but did you doubt it?

We now are seeing a string of visitors come by in the evenings. The impending move to a much more distant location is likely spurring the traffic. One of the nurses remarked yesterday, "Isn't it great to see all of these kids?" Lots of college age young adults and recent graduates have been seen on the floor visiting Grayson, and they are on average 20 to 30 years younger than the typical visitor – mostly children visiting aging parents. They do bring the energy level and the noise level up, but it is joyful noise – one that shouts life and hope. Bless you all for coming by to see my boy. You lift the spirits of all around you!

Many of you know that I am an only child, and I never had the blessings of siblings (one of the reasons we decided to have more than one child!) The closest thing I have to siblings are the cousins from my mother's side of the family. One of those wonderful, adopted sisters came by tonight, and it was a joy to see her and her husband. Grayson recognized them, and was intently listening to our conversation tonight – laughing at our funny stories, and joining in as he could. Here is a picture from a few years ago with our boys and two of theirs escaping from the old folks into a hot tub at a family gathering on Boxing Day in 2005. Grayson is in the lower right, in case you missed the clean shaven face!

It really is a joy to see Grayson increasing his capabilities day by day. While he may never get back to where he was prior to the incident, he is making great progress. My prayer now is for God to kindle the fire of motivation in him, then to fan those flames when the going gets tough – and it will get tough. There is no easy way out of this – no pill – no quick fix – just old fashioned hard work to continue up the ladder of capability. That requires strength of will and commitment. I pray for Grayson to find and keep that strength.

Pax!

Brant